On September 11, 2001, The World Trade Centers in New York City were attacked by terrorists.  Below is an account of my story.  The above picture was taken on September 15th, 2000.

The standard office hours for NexxtHealth (I was working on a contract for this company -- a subsidiary of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield) were 8:30am to 5:00pm.  Staying just at the Marriott (next door) I would usually get in by 7:00 or 7:30, have my vanilla latte from the coffee shop in the basement of the WTC, send some messages, emails, etc, and plan my day.  I think I was instant messaging Rick and Mitch this morning, who knows about what, and I even sent Roger a message (but no response).  Kristen usually came in around 8, and the rest of the team between 8 and 8:30.  Kristen and I had planned some good practical jokes on Greg for the day, so we were waiting around for him to see what we had done, and throw his usual "fit".  Today we had taken the ball out of his mouse and hidden it.  It was always funny to see him get bent out of control.  Tolokie and I had just discussed the testing aspects of the project plan, which I needed to own, and I was reassuring him that I would manage the tester's schedules, and revise the estimates in the project plan for him so we could have a realistic plan.  I had just gotten off the phone with ATT Wireless ordering a new cell phone, and asking them to deliver it to Marriott World Trade Center instead of my home, since there would be someone there to sign for it.  I had a jovial conversation with the woman on the other end.  I had a meeting on the 30th floor, and was about to go up for that, when John had come over to our bullpen to check on us and say good morning.  Just then, we felt an explosion and the building shook.  It shook and shook...like an earthquake I suppose.  Our reaction was, "Holy Shit!  What the Hell was THAT?"  It sounded like a loud clasp of thunder coming through all the ductwork in the building.  It’s hard to describe the sound, but I can tell you that when it happened, it seemed like an anomaly.  I mean, it was like, OK, that was weird.

Kristen was on the floor, Freddy was too, and I was not sure what to do.  Greg had gone somewhere.  I thought for sure it was a bomb.  That had been my fear of being in this building since the day I arrived.  For whatever reason, I sent an instant message to Mitch:  "There's been an explosion, the building is shaking.  I'm really scared."  The building was swaying a lot.  It almost felt like an earthquake (??)  (But I have never felt an earthquake, so this was just a guess).  The building was just really moving.   John told us all to stay calm and wait until they told us what to do.  (John has a military background, and I thank God for his calmness and his composure)  A minute later we heard "get out!  Get out!"  I grabbed my purse, thought about my laptop, and decided, no.  After all, I assumed either we would die there -- the building really felt like it was about to crumble, and I was thinking about Oklahoma City and I was thinking, I wasn't ready to die here like this, or we'd be back -- in either case it didn't matter.

We exited the building via a stairwell on the South side of the building, I believe.  I believe the plane hit WTC1 from the North.  Kristen, Jerry, Freddy, Rich, and I tried to stay together.  It was slow going, as the stairways were only wide enough for 2 people.  The evacuation was quite orderly, no one was panicking, and people were helping other people.  Around the 9th floor, the security guards made us get off on the 9th floor, said it was too smoky to go down further and to wait there.  I was very frightened at this point.  I had assumed the bomb was below us, and that meant we were trapped.  A TV on the 9th floor was showing the WTC building on fire at the top of the building, so we decided going down was a better thing to do than wait, and pushed past the security guards.  It got smokier as we went down, but we could still see, and the lights were still on.  Water was pouring down the steps and at the landings there was about 3 to 5 inches of water to traipse through.  The steps were slippery and the smoke was very thick, so we were all very careful.  About two flights further down, the Fire Department was coming up.  I was relieved to see them coming up, but at the same time, there was fear in their eyes, and I prayed they would all come back out alive.  I have no idea how many did make it out.  The 4th floor, I believe, was the Mezzanine level, and they directed us all out of the stairwell at this point.  The other building had already been hit, and we had no idea, as we had been in the stairwell at the time.  Glass was coming down everywhere, and the police directed us to run toward the financial center.  All kinds of debris was in the courtyard, and I'm not really sure what it was that I saw in the debris, except allot of glass, someone behind me yelled "Oh my God, there are dead bodies out there", So of course, I looked...and saw red masses, which I can't be sure what they were, but immediately looked away.  Once outside the WTC, I found Kristen again.  We had been separated at one point.  She had slowed down to help carry a girl who had lost her shoes in the water and could not walk on the glass.  She and I made the executive decisions to stay together and get as far away as possible from the WTC.  We decided it was not worth going back to the Marriott to get our stuff, assuming that it was just too late to worry about that.  In the meantime, we were desperately trying to use our cell phones to call and let people know we were ok...and out of danger, but the cell circuits were unavailable.  I had forgotten to charge my cell the night before, so I had very little battery. 

Once on the street, Kristen and I started talking to folks on the street.  By this time, it was around 9:30 and the other tower had been hit.  A man on the street told me a plane had hit the building.  I assumed Cessna.  The man told me it was a 767.  Then I knew.  It was a terrorist attack, and I was absolutely terrified.  In the buildings, it was a blessing we did not know, I think, because panic surely would have ensued. 

Anyway, the rest of my story is just getting further away and watching from a distance.  It was not until we were on the street that we heard about the hijacked airplanes and understood the magnitude of the events. 

Kristen and I walked north, and stopped at several places to try and make phone calls, but with no luck.  We stopped at a Deli.  I was trying to use my calling card, but the people that worked there just told me to dial direct.  Everyone was so friendly.  I was wearing a black skirt, hose, and an off white sweater set, plus my usual 3 inch heels.  After about 1/2 hour, I had to stop and buy shoes – my feet were killing me and there was no way I could walk any further.  We stopped a little while after that to use another phone in a Greek restaurant.  The Restaurant worker didn’t speak any English, but gestured to where the phone was.  Everyone in New York was helping everyone else.  The streets were empty except for emergency vehicles, and everyone was just on the streets looking South toward the World Trade Centers in awe.  Kristen was able to get thru to her husband, who was going to call my family.  It was while she was on the phone, that the Restaurant worker got my attention and pointed.  I looked down the street to see the South Tower crumble, and saw only 1 tower standing.  (This was around 10:00 I think?)  Fortunately we were probably about 1 mile away.

We continued to walk North.  I did not know my way around the city at all, fortunately Kristen did.  I was so afraid that this was a massive attack, as we had heard that the pentagon had been hit, and there were more planes heading toward NY and Washington and other US cities, and that there were car bombs in strategic locations.  Kristen and her family lived in CT, and her plan was to get to Grand Central Station and take a train and get out of the city.  I was so afraid of going anywhere "touristy" in NYC, like Times Square assuming it was also a target.  I was so naïve that Kristen took us practically through Times Square and I had no idea.  If I had been on my own, I would have gone to the Plaza Hotel.  It was the only place I knew in NYC, having gone there exactly 1 year prior for an IBM Leadership award.  Fortunately, I had Kristen.  We got to GCS when they made an announcement to evacuate.  We quickly ran out of there...and continued our trek north.  Kristen had worked briefly at Sloan Kettering Hospital, so we decided to walk there.  It was here we were finally able to rest, make phone calls, and decide what we were going to do.  The people there saw I was in severe shock, and made me rest, and drink some ginger ale.  We had no idea about anyone else in the building with us at this point, if everyone was ok, or if others were anywhere to be found.  Cell phones were not working and we could not make contact.  I was finally able to reach my parents and my husband, who were all very, very upset.  My mother kept asking if I was ok, why was I in a hospital?  I had to explain to her why I was there, and I wasn’t a patient!   I was in a lot of shock, still though.  My parents phoned my work to let them know I was ok, and my boss told me later, that my dad had been sobbing on the phone.  My friend, Mitch, had left my instant message up all day as my coworkers in Maryland were glued to the TV.  I found out later that when my father phoned my boss, he was openly sobbing, thankful I was alive. 

My husband's brother worked in the Pentagon, and fortunately he was nowhere near the plane crash. 

We finally heard the trains were running out of GCS in mid-afternoon, and traveled to the station to get on a commuter train to Stamford, CT.  I was very lucky to have been with Kristen to guide me.  It was very strange the whole time we were walking the streets of NYC to see no traffic on the streets, and the people were all so friendly, helping anyone and everyone.  We got to Stamford where Kristen's family picked us up and took us to their home.  And I finally felt safe.  I had 8 messages on my cell phone when I finally got my signal back...the first being from the ATT Wireless sales rep -- who had spoken to me just prior to the plane crash.  That was very touching...she was hoping I was ok...a woman whom I had never met, but yet felt a connection with just from a few minutes on the phone.  (Note, I called her the next day to change my cell phone order to be delivered to my home...she was very relieved to have heard from me!)  Kristen and I went to the Gap once getting settled at her parents to get some clothes, as all I had were the skirt and twin set I was wearing (all smokey and gross) and the new shoes I had bought.  Here we bought completely new clothes, including underwear, and wore it out of the store.  It was not until that evening when we saw the TV footage that I think we realized that we were extremely lucky, but also the severity of the situation.

On September 12, I took Amtrak from Stamford to BWI where my husband and parents were there to greet me.  The train ride was a bit shaky at first, as there had been a bomb scare in Newark and we sat on the bridge between NY Penn Station and Newark for about an hour.  The conductor continuously reassured us that we were far enough back in case of an explosion, but all things considered, I was not altogether thrilled with the situation.

It was not until the following week that we learned that Empire/NexxtHealth had lost 7 employees.  Most likely these folks were in the elevators at the time of the impact or in the train station below the building.  One was a paraplegic who asked others not to worry about him, but to leave him on the 30th floor and save themselves.  Timing is everything, I suppose, because I was about to go to the elevators for a meeting on the 30th floor right before impact, but was delayed a bit.  Additionally, that was our normal coffee run to the basement for Latte's. 

I was sent back to NY three weeks later to continue on the engagement I was working.  They relocated us to midtown Manhattan at the W Hotel.  I guess it was like getting back on the horse and overcoming your fears.  At first I was terrified just coming into the city, but eventually the fears subsided. 

9/11 was a tragic day for America, and I whole-heartedly support this war against terrorism.  I urge Americans to support this war against terror here and abroad.   No one should have to live in terror.

It has taken me almost three years to get my life back, to be unafraid to leave my home, and to no longer have panic attacks.  I wish this on no one.  God Bless America, our troops and our President.

Return to Homepage

Last Revised: July 8, 2005